Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Kansas State
Wilson Nets Career-High 21 Points leading CU over KSU
January 22, 2002 | Men's Basketball
BOULDER, Colo. - Blair Wilson scored a career-high 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting from 3-point range, and Colorado defeated Kansas State 85-71 on Tuesday night at the Coors Events/Conference Center.
David Harrison scored 16 of his 17 points in the second half, and Stephane Pelle added 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Buffaloes (11-5, 2-3 Big 12).
Larry Reid led Kansas State (7-9, 1-4) with 13 points. Pervis Pasco had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Wilson hit his first five 3-pointers to help the Buffs take a 39-30 halftime lead.
Another 3-pointer by Wilson and a free throw by Harrison pushed Colorado's lead to 53-37 early in the second half.
Wilson hit his final 3 moments later, and Harrison and his brother D.J. then combined for Colorado's next 16 points - 10 by David Harrison.
David Harrison's short baseline jumper gave Colorado its biggest lead, 64-46, with 9:38 remaining.
Kansas State cut the deficit to 72-62 on Reid's fastbreak layup with 4:13 left, but the Wildcats could get no closer.
Wilson's five straight 3-pointers accounted for 15 straight Colorado points in a span of 5:41 of the first half.
"I think the biggest thing is to take care of home court," said CU head coach Ricardo Patton. "We also need to take it one game at a time. It we take care of home court, we'll have a chance. It's very difficult to win on the road in the Big 12."
Colorado improves its home record to 10-1 on the season, while the Wildcats fell for the fifth time in as many games.
Pelle recorded his sixth double-double of the season (18th career) with his third straight double performance (14 points and 12 rebounds) for CU.
Colorado led 7-6 before Wilson hit his first three 3-pointers, making it 16-6 with 13:45 left in the half.
Reid and Tony Atchison sank 3-pointers to help cut the deficit to 16-14, and Wilson hit another.
Atchison's 3-point basket and Matt Siebrandt's layup produced a 19-19 tie with 9:49 left, but Wilson countered with another long-range basket to give Colorado the lead for good.
The Wildcats trimmed the lead to 27-26 on Pasco's slam dunk with 5:37 to go, but Colorado then went on a 9-0 run, including Amadou Doumbouya's rebound basket and Chevis Brimmer's 3-pointer, for a 36-26 lead.
The Wildcats had only one offensive rebound in the first half and were outrebounded 20-14 overall in the half.
Colorado vs. Kansas State Post-game quotes 1/22/02
CU Head Coach RICARDO PATTON
GENERAL: {When we were up by 10 or so} it was still a ball game. With the 3-point shot and some misses by us, Kansas State is right back in it."
"I thought our best game this season was against Iowa State, in terms of coaching. That game came down to the wire, and we were down at halftime, however we may have shot the better tonight."
"We talked at half. I yelled, I screamed, They came out and played a better second half."
"When Kansas State came in a zone our post guys did a nice job of throwing it out. Blair's (Wilson) teammate did a nice job of finding home."
ON DAVID HARRISON: "Individually David is tough to guard down in the post, and so is Stephane (Pelle). It's a team game and David has to become a much better passer out of the double team. When he look to pass, it will become a much better team."
ON STEPHANE PELLE: "One of the things I keep talking to Stephane is for a little bit more on the rebounding part of the game. One thing that is helping him is the fact that David is in."
CU PLAYER QUOTES
DAVID HARRISON: "I was missing some easy shots, some tip backs. I missed a couple of those. It wasn't a good shooting night. I'm starting to look around more, see who's cutting and who is open."
On being hacked: "It goes to my head sometimes, when they punch me in the face, or slap me. When I start hitting my free throws it will stop."
On getting triple teamed: "Blair was knocking down the shots, and Blair was on my side so his guy couldn't double down (on me) so it wasn't a triple team. I just have to pick my shots for when to turn and score."
STEPHANE PELLE: "I have a better understanding of where my teammates are on the court. It is easier for me to know where the shots are going. I just go after it. I know sometimes it doesn't seem like I'm going hard, but I try."
BLAIR WILSON: "I felt horrible during pre-game. We came out and I felt stiff and sluggish. For shooters it's easier to shoot on passes from the inside out. Every shot I took I thought I didn't think I could miss, but unfortunately some of them didn't fall."
We can't play Oklahoma State tentative like we did in Missouri. It's all about coming out and playing with confidence.
Kansas State Head Coach JIM WOOLDRIDGE
On the first half performance: "With a team like Colorado, you have to pick your poison with them. In the first half, we did a good job of taking away their inside game and rebounding. The first five minutes was a real turning point. That was the spread they needed."
On the first half defense: "I think we really got it. There were no one-on-one opportunities, but (Blair) Wilson did a really good job which made things difficult. We were not rotating quick enough, and we didn't get it done. That hurt us inside."
On effort: "I had no problems with our teams effort. They made the plays when needed. Because of that, I am not disappointed.
On Standout Players: "There were none. I tell the guys they need to stay together, and I talked to them about the importance about team work all the time. I also talked to them about individuality."
On David Harrison: "Harrison will be hard to handle. He is a really big guy and he has good hands. I think he poses a monster problem down there for everyone."
